words by ART ARCHIVE 01

SIR ANRIL PINEDA TIATCO, PhD

UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEMPORARY
IN PHILIPPINE THEATER

In 2011, the Philippine Educational Theater
Association (PETA) staged an adaptation of William
Shakespeare’s King Lear, billed as Haring Lear. 1
Several adaptations of this masterwork had already
been mounted: Singaporean director Ong Keng
Sen’s intercultural Lear 2 and Lear Dreaming, 3 and
Dulaang UP (DUP)’s Lear, 4 directed by Tony Mabesa
in 2015. However, it is only in the PETA adaptation
that the entire ensemble — including the king’s three
daughters Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia — consisted of
male actors. Adapted by National Artist for Literature
Bienvenido Lumbera and directed by Nonon Padilla,
the play is set in a dystopian Philippine future and has
a strong nationalist stance. The national anthem at the
end offers a glimpse into the country’s authoritarian
regimes, particularly during the Martial Law era.
A friend from PETA asked for my take on this
adaptation and if the piece could represent the
contemporary in the Philippine theater. I did not have
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Fig. 1
definite answers then. Examining the themes of
Haring Lear, it could be inferred that contemporary
theater in Manila is rooted in social criticism. This
is because many contemporary theater artists in
Manila are influenced by the country’s longstanding
history of social activism; high school and university
professors of drama and theater claim Metro Manila
as an important site of social protest and activism.
There are different ways of understanding “the
contemporary” in Philippine theater: by looking at current
theatrical activities taking place in Manila; surveying
the number of commercial, professional, and semi-
professional theater companies across the country; and
taking note of popular genres. The two most popular
genres in Manila are the play (original and adaptations)
and the musical. Though most of the musicals staged in
Manila are imported from Broadway or the West End, local
artists are also staging original musicals. Local theater
companies also regularly stage children’s productions.
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 UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEMPORARY
IN PHILIPPINE THEATER
Manila’s theater scene is diverse, but there’s a dominant
trend of adhering to Western dramaturgical traditions, which
brings up issues of inauthenticity and cheap imitation. Many
scholars have been ambivalent about this close association
with Western thought and practice, including the late James
Brandon, a pioneering scholar in the field of Asian theater
studies. In his book, Theatre in Southeast Asia (1967),
Brandon dismisses Filipino theatre identity as inauthentic,
due to the “dearth of indigenous theater in the islands.”5
Manila’s theater scene is diverse,
but there’s a dominant trend
of adhering to Western
dramaturgical traditions,
which brings up issues of inauthenticity
and cheap imitation.
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ART ARCHIVE 01
PETA, The Care Divas, Melvin Lee as Chelsea, 2011.
Fig. 1
Courtesy of Philippine Educational Theater Association.
Dulaang UP, The Silent Soprano, Natasha Cabrera and
Fig. 2 Via Antonio as Margie/MeiMei and Chika. Courtesy of
Dulaang UP.
Dulaang UP, The Silent Soprano, Margie/MeiMei
Fig. 3 (Natasha Cabrera) rehearses a song with Ricky (Joel
Molina), 2007. Courtesy of Dulaang UP.
Dulaang UP, The Silent Soprano, Chika (Via Antonio)
Fig. 4 outlines the do’s and don’ts of being a domestic helper
in Hong Kong, 2007. Courtesy of Dulaang UP.
Fig. 5
PETA, The Care Divas, Ricci Chan as Kayla, 2011.
Courtesy of Philippine Educational Theater Association.
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
ENTANGLEMENT
Manila’s theater scene, however, is much more complex. Andrei Pamintuan (also the director) and Ina Abuan, originally
Some have remarked that the performing Filipino, for instance, staged in 2011 at the PETA Theater Center. This musical
is a master imitator. Some have also asserted that the imitation weaved the songs of the now defunct band Sugarfree. Both
is almost the same as that which is imitated (or an “almost Rizal X and Sa Wakas may be thought of as a sort of liminal
perfect” replica). Anthropologist Fenella Cannell sees mimicry entity — a between and betwixt, neither here nor there — or as
as a subtle and ironic means of accessing the power of the scholar Richard Dyer points out, “neither original nor copy.”9
imagined Western world.6 Likewise, scholar Lucy San Pablo Looking at the works of many local theater artists, there
Burns explains that such consciousness challenges and seems to be a degree of comfort with entanglement, even if
overturns the equation of the one that mimics and the one that they do not intentionally recognize it as part of their artistic
is mimicked.7 Thus, the mimicry is not just simple imitation, but endeavors. Entanglement connotes the danger of being
rather a complicated strategy of aesthetics and poetics. entrapped in a muddled situation, often producing a sense
Considering all these scenarios, contemporary theater of disorder and even chaos. Entanglement certainly has
in Manila is very much entangled. Generally, entanglement is its own limitations, especially since many theatre artists
a condition of juxtapositions. It’s also about the blending or unintentionally overuse pastiche or fragments in their theater
mixing of different elements together. Theater artists in Manila making, resulting in sensationalizing their chosen subjects.
have become adept in employing techniques of mixing and In Doreen Fernandez’s book Palabas (1996), she says, “It
matching performance genres and forms that range from is Philippine life that fires our playwrights. They do not need to
Western (colonial) influences to archipelagic encounters hear of the latest trends in writing techniques in order to want
(traditional performance genres from other regions or islands). to write a play in like manner. Instead, their themes invade
An example is DUP’s Rizal X,8 staged at the Wilfrido their craft — and they reach for techniques to fit.”10 Fernandez
Ma. Guerrero Theater in 2011 for the 150th birth anniversary adds that in the thematic concerns of Filipino playwrights,
of Jose Rizal. The production is an entanglement of directors, and actors, “the vitality of theatre is in its urgency.”11
performance genres (contemporary dance, hip-hop, songs, By urgency, Fernandez posits that theater in the Philippines is
video installation, and oral interpretation) and other art forms used to represent specific social concerns, providing insightful
(film, poetry, dance, theater, and installation art), based on commentary on the state of things during the particular time
what director Dexter Santos described in the play’s program period of a given play.
as “fragments.” Another example is Sa Wakas (Finally) by
Fig. 2
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 UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEMPORARY
IN PHILIPPINE THEATER
THE PROBLEM PLAY
In an attempt to actively engage in social discourse,
contemporary theater in Manila follows the lineage of “the
problem play.” A 19th-century term, the problem play is a
drama that tackles social issues rooted in Realism. Scholar
Richard Hornby asserts that there are problem plays that
do the opposite — instead of illuminating social realities, the
performances come off as glib and cheap.12 Hornby adds that
these plays are easily comparable to television melodramas,
and the topical issues presented are editorialized.13
Many contemporary productions in Manila are not cheap,
of low value, or without merit. But there have been failed
attempts to present social issues that lack complexity. Two
examples come to mind: DUP’s The Silent Soprano14 staged
at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater in UP Diliman in 2007 and
PETA’s The Care Divas15 originally staged at the PETA Theater
Center in 2011.
The Silent Soprano is an original Filipino musical in English
(with some Tagalog words inserted in song numbers and
dialogue). The musical touches on the life of Margie (alternately
played by Natasha Cabrera and Laura Cabochan), a domestic
helper in Hong Kong who is transformed into a Canto-pop
superstar. In order to win the hearts of Hong Kong nationals
as a pop star, Margie has to be Cantonese. Plastic surgery and
a Cantonese name (Mei Mei) are prerequisites to stardom.
Canto-pop star Mei Mei is not allowed in public without her
managers and, thus, gets the alias “the Silent Soprano.”
Margie is a performer par excellence in mimicking, and
she is also a domestic helper, shown hidden away from sight
without the ability to speak for herself. For this reason, her
performative nature is undermined. The musical attempts to
comment on the stereotyped realities of two types of Filipinos
working in Asia: domestic helpers and other professionals.
The Silent Soprano is the work of a male librettist,
composer, and director, and while seeming to support the
Filipina in her attempt to challenge Chinese and East Asian
economic power in the play, the musical is rife with Filipino
nationalism and patriarchy, as Margie sacrifices herself for
husband, family, and nation. Thus, women are silenced so that
others may benefit.
Most recently, PETA staged another musical about
domestic helpers: The Care Divas. The musical was such a
sensational hit that it was restaged in November 2011, April
2012, and February 2017. Inspired by a true story, The Care
Divas follows the adventures of five Filipino caregivers that
moonlight as drag queens at a nightclub in Tel Aviv during
the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israeli
occupation. Their struggles are complicated by their identities
as bakla (gay) in a predominantly Jewish nation.
Tolerance and acceptance are the core themes of this
musical, which are attached to a “universal” hyper-feminine
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sensibility. However, as scholar J. Neil Garcia points
out, tolerance is not benign: it implies that something is
fundamentally wrong with the other person.16
In the musical’s final number, there is a call for the
destruction of fences and walls. Clad in their beautiful couture
gowns, exaggerated headdresses, and high-heeled shoes, the
five “divas” subvert the walls of their oppression. The symbol of
harang (fences) is a matter of pride and a call for acceptance,
not necessarily for recognition and respect. But, acceptance,
argues Garcia, is not much better: it implies that it the “hetero-
normal” has the right to accept the other person and not the
other way around.17
While the musical embraced tolerance and acceptance
rather than a radical defense of difference, it failed in its attempt
to humanize the contexts of migrant work and homosexuality.
Here, transnational labor is feminized and based on the myth
of the bagong bayani: the feminine sacrifice that sustains the
family and improves their impoverished life back home. The
choice of the bakla (gay man) as the domestic helper is not
really the issue, but it’s this feminization of transnational labor
that becomes problematic.
Fig. 5
ART ARCHIVE 01
BEING CONTEMPORARY
In 2012, the journal PAJ: Performing Arts Journal published
two special issues on the concept of “the contemporary”
under the title, Being Contemporary. In one issue, a roundtable
discussion among Western performance and theater artists
— such as Robert Wilson, Roselee Goldberg, Kenneth Collins,
and Richard Schechner — on the contemporary resulted
in two recurring idioms: iterability and effective historical
consciousness. In other words, contemporary artists on the
other side of this planet are unanimous in proclaiming that
“the contemporary” invokes the possibility of repetition and
dissociation. They declared, “Repetition at its best is the state
of the art.”18
For theater and performance artists in Europe and in the
United States, “being contemporary” entails the reinvention,
remodifying, reexamination, and reenactment of forms.
Most contemporary works are reincarnations of particular
performances, which scholars have attributed as the historical
avant-garde. However, the repetition of these performances is
not really the same. When looking at the concept of iterability,
the term “reiteration” is a combination of the word iter (denoting
Theater artists in Manila
have become adept in employing techniques of mixing
and matching performance genres and forms that range
from Western (colonial) influences to archipelagic encounters
(traditional performance genres from other regions or islands).
1 Haring Lear, by Bienvenido Lumbera (adaptation of King Lear by William
Shakespeare), directed by Nonon Padilla, Philippine Educational Theater
Association, PETA Theatre, Quezon City, January 2012.
2 Lear, by Ong Keng Sen (adaptation of King Lear by William Shakespeare),
directed by Ong Keng Sen, The Festival of Perth, Australia, 1997.
3 Lear Dreaming, by Ong Keng Sen (adaptation of King Lear by William
Shakespeare), directed by Ong Keng Sen, Drama Theatre, School of The Arts,
Singapore, 2012.
4 Lear, by William Shakespeare (translation by Nicolas Pichay), directed by
Tony Mabesa, Dulaang UP, Wilfirdo Ma. Guerrero Theater, October 2015.
5 James R. Brandon, Theatre in Southeast Asia (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1967).
6 Fenella Cannell, “The Power of Appearances: Beauty, Mimicry, and
Transformation in Bicol,” in Discrepant Histories: Translocal Essays on Filipino
Cultures, ed. Vincente Rafael, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995),
223-258.
7 Lucy Mae San Pablo Burns, Puro Arte: Filipinos on the Stages of Empire
(New York: New York University Press, 2013).
8 Rizal X, by Katte Sabate and Chic San Agustin, music by William Manzano,
directed by Dexter Santos, Dulaang UP, Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater,
Quezon City, July 2011.
change) and the prefix re, which refers to repetition. Another
way of describing it is that the contemporary repeats the same
or similar theatrical forms in an attempt to create something
different.
Given this, “the contemporary” in Philippine theater has
and will continue to contend with possibilities of repetition
and dissociation. The repetition plays out in themes that affirm
the social and cultural landscapes of a particular time period,
which have been explored in many contemporary theater
works since the advent of drama simbolico (symbolic drama),
or nationalist plays that critiqued colonialism at the turn of
the 20th century. The dissociation plays out in the reflexive
transference of these social issues into more nuanced
positionalities and embodiments. ■
-
A different version of this essay was previously published in
Philippine Panorama: Sunday Magazine of the Manila Bulletin,
Volume 44, No. 12.
9 Richard Dyer, Pastiche (New York and London: Routledge, 2007).
10 Doreen G. Fernandez, Palabas: History of Philippine Theatre (Quezon City:
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1996).
11 Ibid.
12 Richard Hornby, “The Social Problem Play,” The Hudson Review 51, No. 4:
751–758.
13 Ibid.
14 The Silent Soprano, by Ricardo Saludo, music by Arnel De Pano and
Vincent De Jesus, directed by Alexander Cortez, Dulaang UP, Wilfrido Ma.
Guerrero Theater, Quezon City, September 2007.
15 The Care Divas, by Liza Magtoto, music by Vincent De Jesus, directed by
Maribel Legarda, Philippine Educational Theater Association, PETA Theater,
Quezon City, December 2011.
16 J. Neil Garcia, Philippine Gay Culture: Binabae to Bakla, Silahis to MSM
(Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1996).
17 Ibid.
18 Robert Wilson et al, “Being Contemporary,” PAJ: A Journal of Performance
and Art 34, No. 1 (2012): 93-110.
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